Vladimir Putin is shown during a service at the Moscow Kremlin’s Cathedral of the Annunciation conducted by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia after being sworn in as President of Russia. (photo: Alexei Nikolsky/TASS/Getty Images)

Rebels leave last besieged enclave in Syria(BBC) Syrian rebels have begun withdrawing from the last big, besieged enclave that they held in the war-torn country. Hundreds of fighters have been boarding buses along with their families in a pocket of territory lying in central Syria, between Homs and Hama…

Putin receives Russian Orthodox blessing after inauguration(The Moscow Times) On 7 May 2018, Vladimir Putin was inaugurated for his fourth term as Russia’s president. Following the official state ceremony, Putin met with Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, at the Cathedral of the Annunciation for a prayer service and a blessing…

Hezbollah wins significant gains in Lebanon vote(Reuters) Hizbollah and its political allies made significant gains in Lebanon’s parliamentary election, official results showed, boosting an Iranian-backed movement fiercely opposed to Israel and underlining Teheran’s growing regional clout. The leader of Shi’ite Hezbollah, Mr. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, called the result a “a very big political, parliamentary and moral victory for the choice of resistance”…

Armenian protest leader wins prime minister vote(BBC) Opposition politician Nikol Pashinyan spearheaded weeks of protests in Armenia that brought an end to 10 years of rule by Serzh Sargsyan. Now he has persuaded a parliament dominated by Mr. Sargsyan’s own party to back him as prime minister, only a week after he lost an initial vote…

Children of conflict: growing up in Gaza(As Jazeera) Around the world, millions of children are the unheard voices of war. And the horrors they witness today will inform the adults they become tomorrow. Will they grow up to be the next leaders, teachers or freedom fighters?…

Charity to offer college education to Syrian refugees in Jordan(GulfNews.com) Syrian refugees living in Jordanian refugee camps will be offered university education and vocational training as part of a new programe that was launched in Abu Dhabi on Monday. The initiative is a joint partnership involving Swiss NGO UniRef, The Jordanian Red Crescent and Isra University in Jordan. The signing ceremony for the new project was attended by several dignitaries in the capital including the ambassadors of Jordan, Oman and Afghanistan…

Bogus story about Vatican deal confirms Saudis’ religious freedom headache(Crux) Anyone who’s covered the Vatican for a while knows that a good chunk of the job isn’t so much reporting the actual news, but debunking “fake news” that others have shot out into the ether. We got an example this week, with a bogus story that Saudi Arabia had entered into an agreement with the Vatican to support the construction of Christian churches in the country…

Young men crowd around to watch the monthly quiz in the yard at Shano Prison in Ethiopia. To learn how lay people are ministering to these young men, offering them guidance and direction, read ‘For I Was in Prison’ in the March 2018 edition of ONE. (photo: Don Duncan)

People sit beside their destroyed homes in Bharatpur, India, following a severe dust storm Thursday. The Catholic bishops of India have expressed solidarity with the victims of the storm. (photo: Vatican News/AFP)

India’s Catholic Church expresses solidarity with victims of dust storm(Vatican News) The Catholic Church of India has expressed its grief at the loss of life and and property, and injury caused by a particularly severe dust storm on Thursday in parts of the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. “The Catholic Church condoles the death of our brothers and sisters who were caught unaware as nature’s fury took hold of large parts of North India,” said press release on Saturday signed by Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, the secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, and The Rev. Paul Moonjely, the executive director of Caritas India, the social arm of the Catholic Church in India…

Hezbollah reportedly on track to extend political gains in Lebanon(CNBC) Lebanon’s first national election in nine years could result in a stronger Hezbollah, preliminary results show, following an election marred by low voter turnout amid frustration over the country’s endemic corruption problems. Shia group Hezbollah and its political allies were thought to be on course to win more than half of the seats in the Lebanese parliament, according to preliminary results cited by Beirut’s media on Monday...

‘U.S. Embassy’ road signs appear in Jerusalem(Al Jazeera) ‘U.S. Embassy’ road signs went up in Jerusalem on Monday ahead of next week’s opening of the mission in the city. The signs, in English, Hebrew and Arabic, were installed by workmen close to the south Jerusalem location of a U.S. consulate building that will be repurposed as the embassy when it is officially relocated from Tel Aviv on 14 May, Reuters news agency reported…

Remembering the Eritrea-Ethiopia border war, Africa’s unfinished conflict(BBC) Two decades have passed since two of Africa’s poorest countries began the continent’s deadliest border war. The conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia left tens of thousands dead or injured in the space of just two years. But despite a peace deal signed in December 2000, the two sides remain on a war footing — their massive armies still facing off…

Did Syria create the world’s first song?(BBC) In Syria, music runs deeper into the fabric of the place than anywhere else in the world. Long before the modern state was formed in 1946, Syria had developed rich musical traditions over thousands of years. The diverse religions, sects and ethnicities that inhabited and travelled across the country over the millennia — Muslims, Christians, Jews, Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians and Kurds, to name but a few — all contributed to this eclectic musical heritage…

Sister Femily of the Sisters of the Destitute in Marayoor, India, leads a self-help group for adults. Discover how she and other sisters are Breaking the Cycle of addiction and alcoholism in Kerala in the March 2017 edition of ONE. (photo: Don Duncan)

Nermine, part of a group of young Iraqi refugees in Jordan, hopes one day to return to her homeland. Learn how she and others are being supported and helped by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, who are Inspiring the Faithful in Jordan, in the current edition of ONE. (photo: Nader Daoud)

Sister Frehiwot oversees students filing into the school after morning assembly in the school yard at Rosa Gatorno Kindergarten, located about nine miles outside the town of Boditi, Ethiopia. Discover how Sister Frehiwot and other young sisters are helping youngsters get in The Habit of Learning in the current edition of ONE. (photo: Don Duncan)

In the March 2018 edition of ONE, we feature a poignant Letter From Iraqby Sister Clara Nacy, superior general of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena.

Last year, CNS’s gifted photojournalist Paul Jeffrey offered this glimpse at some of the sisters who are ministering to displaced Iraqis — and this account helped give more context and background to the struggles so many Iraqi Christians have been facing.